Second Chance Pet Rescue

This week my pick of the litter is our adult/senior Shepherd mix, Burton. Burton has been with us for 2 months and all he wants is to be with people. He is a very clean dog, does not potty in his pen, walks very good on the leash and loves to ‘talk’ to you in a quiet way. The whole time I was taking his pictures, he was ‘woo-wooing me’ as if to say “Hey, I am supposed to be by your side, not tied up to this table with you taking pictures of me!” He is very gentle and calm and would do well in most any home. Even though he is older, he has allot to give to some lucky family. Don’t let his age put you off. Everyone who volunteers here just loves Burton.

We are open by appointment only, so call to make an appointment to see this great guy.

Saturday was the day of the dog. Every one of our furry four legged friends got special treatment. Lady, a shepard mix couldn't give me enough kisses while we played "find it" a game that involves finding treats. Korman, the boxer/hound mix had his tail wagging as fast as he could. He loves just to have someone pet and talk to him and Boris (see picture in Pat's blog) just wanted to sit in Taylor's lap. But the guy that really made me laugh was Ollie the Chihauhau. He wanted to run. So here was little Ollie on a huge leash running through the parking lot with me right beside him. This little guy is as silly as they get. It was a great day. Hopefully as the weather gets nicer we can have more days like this. Better yet lets get these dogs homes so they can have everyday be a Saturday.

Second Chance Pet Rescue sponsored Brooklyn, a pitbull mix, owned by Jonathan Offi at the Shasta County Sport and Boat Show this last weekend. Brooklyn is a competition frisbee dog but showed a high willingness and interest to jump into water.

Dock Diving is a sport dominated by Labs and Retrievers where the dogs jump from a 40 foot platform into a pool of water for a target toy. Brooklyn placed #2 in her "wave" of 20 dogs where she jumped 20 feet which was the 3rd longest jump for the entire 3-day event. That jump qualified her for the Pro Finals which included the top 12 dogs for the weekend.

Brooklyn's final jump of 21.1 feet was good enough to place 3rd out of the top 12 dogs. Where will Brooklyn go next? Stay tuned and we'll keep you posted. Look for a video soon of Brooklyn dock diving.

There was marching on the street, though the crowd was sparse and we didn’t see any homemade signs, and it won’t make the headlines in the newspaper or even be on the local news. All of that and an old fashion sit-in! Wow what a morning!! Ok, there was no protest, but lots of supporters, ok there were 4, but it all was exciting and thrilling as anything we have done here in a long time.

 Each volunteer took about 25 minutes with each dog devoted all their energy just to them. The dogs got a short walk, then were separated so they wouldn’t be distracted by having another dog close by, got brushed then got some brain stimulation with a game of ‘find it’, which was hiding treats under the bowl and asking the dogs to ‘find-it’. Lady, Comet and Mia were great at ‘find it’.

Giving the dogs personal people time is what keeps the dogs people engaged and adoptable. We only wish that every day we could spend this amount of with all the dogs. Without the wonderful volunteers today, our sit-in would never have happened. Thank you Kelly, Taylor, Jean and Michelle.

There isn’t really a litter of puppies, but being we all feel like the dogs here are like our babies, they all are part of our litter.  Today at the shelter Hildie really stood out as THE dog who really needed a real forever home soon.  (They all deserve homes so I will try and do a pick of the litter each week and spotlight that one.)

 My pick this week is Hildie, the Akita mix (we think). She is such a nice dog. She is quiet, but watchful, loving yet can be playful has a beautiful disposition and a soft coat. She is smart and loves puzzles. She figured out how to get the kibble out of the jug right away and it kept her busy for quiet awhile.

So Hildie is the one I would take home if I could.

Saturday started out as a typical day. The kennels were full and we had much to do. We each went a different direction and started to work. It was going great. I was moving right along getting the outside kennels cleaned, the indoor dogs had all been walked and it was time for the outdoor dogs to be walked. Then it happened. One dog lashed out at another and the fight was on. The dogs came out of it ok. Nothing serious. Do I think this happened for a reason? Yes. Both dogs are sweet dogs and generally mild tempered. But one has been with us for a year now and I believe she is frustrated and this was just her way of letting us know. Her way of saying "please I need out of here". I always knew the day would come when I would have to deal with something like this but it sucked. All the dogs were agitated for the rest of the day and that made me  frustrated. They could feel that I was on edge and that made things even worse. I did learn a lesson from all this though but never fear for next Saturday I will go back wiser and ready for what ever is thrown at me.

Somedays here are just busy, busy, busy. That’s life at an animal shelter. But with the help of Diane G coming out yesterday, Wednesday, I had real time to spend with the dogs. Hildie is such a quiet dog, soft and gentle. Jennings is another gentle dog who loves everyone. Korman and Katie are more high energy but loved their people time with me. And I swear that Mia knew exactly what I was saying with the way she cocked her head and looked at me with her intelligent eyes.

If only everyone could actually see all the great dogs we have. Seeing them in person is sooooo much better than just a photograph.